Desk-type calendar mount



' Jan. 4, 1955 E. NICHOLS DESK-TYPE CALENDAR MOUNT Filed Dec. 29, 1951 United States Patent DESK-TYPE CALENDAR MOUNT Gordon E. Nichols, Middleboro, Mass, assignor to Winthrop-Atkins Co., Inc., Middieboro, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application December 29, 1951, Serial No. 264,812

3 Claims. (Cl. 40-120) This invention pertains to calendars, and relates more especially to an improved desk type calendar. The customary desk-type calendar (at least of the kind commonly employed for advertising purposes) comprises a holder for the calendar pad and an easel or leg which is operatively disposed in downwardly divergent relation to the holder, whereby the holder is kept in upright position to expose the pad to view. In usual calendars of this type the holder makes a substantially single-line contact with the desk or table on which it rests, and the same is true of the easel or leg. the device is at least as high as the center of height of the holder, and to insure stability (so that the center of gravity may be rearward of the lower edge of the holder) it is necessary to arrange the leg or brace to diverge at a substantial angle from the holder and thus to incline the holder rearwardly. At best such a device is unstable and easily tipped over, and this is particularly true when the leg or easel becomes warped as it frequently does, from the effects of moisture.

Among the objects of the present invention are to provide a desk type calendar which is unusually stable (as compared with customary calendars of this type) and which it is not easily tipped over; to provide a desk type calendar whose center of gravity is relatively low, that is to say, substantially below the center of height; to provide a desk type calendar wherein the holder may be substantially vertical, if desired, instead of rearwardly inclined, without sacrifice of stability or tendency to tip forwardly; to provide a desk-type calendar having an extended surface contact with the desk or table on which the device stands so that its stability is not substantially lessened because of a slight warping of the material; to provide a desk-type calendar of pleasing appearance and which conveys the impression of solidity and weight,

although actually it need be no heavier or require any a more material than that of the usual, easily upset desktype calendar; and to provide a desk-type calendar which may be made of the usual materials employed in advertising calendars of this type and which may be folded for shipment, and which may be made at a cost not exceeding that of prior calendars deficient in stability and of a much less attractive appearance. Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will be pointed out in the following, more detailed description and by reference to the accompanying drawings wherein Fig. l is a plan view of a device embodying the present invention, the calendar pad being omitted, the device being in its fiat condition for shipment or storage;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the device of Fig. 1 arranged in the position of use and showing a pad arranged in the pad holder;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary section, to large scale, substantially on the line 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary section, substantially on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 but illustrating a slight modification.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 indicates the pad holder of the device, the base being indicated at 2. While the holder 1 may be of any appropriate construction, it is preferred to employ a two-ply holder, that is to say, a holder comprising but two plies of cardboard or other stiff sheet material, although, as about to be described, the holder may also include thin sheets of decorative or finishing material such, for example, as paper, thin Usually the center of gravity of leather or the like. Referring to Fig. 3, the holder is shown as comprising the rear cardboard ply 5 and the front ply 6, the latter being shown as somewhat thicker than the rear ply, although this is wholly optional. The rear ply may be self-finished, if desired, that is, the cardboard itself may be given a decorative surface colored, burnished or embossed, as is customary in the finishing of cardboard, but, as here illustrated, the rear surface of the rear ply 5 is covered with a decorative paper layer 4 which extends over the upper edges of the two plies 5 and 6, as shown at 4*, and down over the front face of the front ply 6, as shown at 4 extending down to the bottom of the latter ply and then being turned about the lower edge of the ply 6 to provide the desired finish. The front ply 6 is furnished with a window or display aperture 7 for the reception of the calendar pad 8, the latter being of any conventional type and usually comprising a plurality of leaves secured together by adhesive or staples near their upper edges and free from each other at their lower edges and lateral margins. As here illustrated, the window or display aperture 7 is shaped to provide retaining flanges 9 and iii at its lower corner portions, these flanges being designed to overlie portions of the lateral and bottom margins of the pad so as to prevent the leaves of the pad from curling. Such an arrangement makes it possible to hold the pad 8 in operative position without stapling the pad to the holder, thus permitting the pad to be withdrawn readily for the removal of the front leaf when desired. However, the present invention is not essentially concerned with the shape of the window 7 or with the mode of securing the pad in place.

The base 2 comprises a central portion 11 (Fig. l) of a length exceeding the length of the holder 1, and at opposite ends of this central portion there are provided hinged tabs 12 and 13, respectively, which are hinged to the central portion along the hinge lines 14 and 15 which are parallel and perpendicular to the front edge of the base. In a preferred construction, as illustrated in Fig. 4, each of these tabs 12 and 13, for example the tab 13, comprises two plies 1% and 17 of material, for example, cardboard, the two plies being held in face-to-face relation by adhesive, if desired, although, as here illustrated, they are embraced and held in assembled relation by portions of the paper facing 4 of the rear ply 3 of the hoider as above described, portions of this paper covering the upper and lower surfaces of the central portion 11 of the base, as iilustrated in Figs. 3 and 4, these portions of the paper being designated by the numerals 5 and 5 respectively. At the hinge lines 14 and 15 the proximate edges of the cardboard plies 11 and 16, 17 (which form the central portion 11 and the tabs 12 and 13, respectively) are spaced apart, the spacing being bridged by the paper layers 5 and 5* so that these paper layers constitute a hinge about which the tab may be swung so as to overlie and rest upon the central part 11 of the base. As may be seen in Fig. 4, the central part of the base comprises but a single ply 11 of cardboard, and when the tabs are disposed, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4, the lower ply 16 of each tab lies substantially in the plane of the ply li with the exposed surface of the paper layer 5 which covers both of the plies 11 and 16 in substantially the same horizontal plane.

Each of the tabs 12 and 13 is provided with a slot 20 and 21, respectively, extending inwardly from their free edges 22 and 23. Each of these slots 26 and 21 is of a width, from front to rear, substantially equalling or very slightly greater than the thickness of the holder 1, the material at opposite sides of the slot, thus constituting elongate jaws which, when the tab is in operative position grip the end portion of the holder between them. The inner ends 26 and 21 of these slots 20 and 21 are spaced, respectively, from the hinge lines 14 and 15 a distance preferably substantially equal to, but not greater than, the distance between the hinge line and the proximate edge of the holder 1. As here illustrated, the holder is of trapezoidal shape, comprising the upper edge E the parallel lower edge E and the upwardly converging lateral edges E and 15*. While this is a desirable shape, the exact outline of the holder is not material. The central part 11 of the base is provided with a recess 26 whose widest dimension is slightly greater than the widest dimensionv of the holder, that is to say, slightly greater than the length of the edge E The lower portion of the holder fits within this recess, the depth of the recess, measured from the rear edge of the base forwardly, being such that when the holder is arranged within the recess the edge E is preferably substantially one-half the distance between the front and rear edges of the base member 11. As above noted, the finishing paper layer 4, which covers the rear ply 3 of the holder, extends down and about the central part 11 of the base (Fig. 4) to form the upper and lower covers 5 and 5", respectively. The lower edge E of the holder 1 (Fig. 3) is spaced from the inner edge of the recess 26, and the paper layers 5* and 5 span this space and form a hinge about which the holder may be folded so as to lie in the position shown in Fig. 1 where its rear face is flush with the undersurface of the base member 11, or to stand in a substantially vertical plane, as shown in Fig. 2. When the holder 1 has been turned up to the vertical, operative position, as shown in Fig. 2, the end tabs 12 and 13 may be folded inwardly about hinge lines 14 and 15, as shown in Fig. 2, so that the lateral margins of the holder are received in the slots and 21. The tabs 12 and 13 may be folded down so as to lie-fiat against the upper surface of the central part 11 of the base, as shown in Fig. 2, or they may be folded down only part way, if desired, so that they incline upwardly from the hinge lines 14 and 15. In any event, they act to keep the holder 1 in the upright, vertical position of Fig. 2. When the tabs are folded down to the position shown in Fig. 2, the opposed, parallel walls of the slots 20 and 21 contact the front and rear faces of the holder. Preferably the slots are of such width that when the tabs are thus folded down they are frictionally retained in this folded-down position and do not show any tendency to rise. Since these tabs are of substantial thickness they provide retaining abutments to prevent the holder from being swung either forwardly or rearwardly. As the base is of substantial front-to-rear dimensions, for instance, two inches, and since the holder does not normally exceed three inches in height and is hinged to the base along a line which is substantially midway between the front and rear edges of the base, the center of gravity of the device, when set up as shown in Fig. 2, lies very low, that is to say, below the center of height of the device and in the plane of the upright holder, and since the base projects both forwardly and rearwardly from this plane and provides a very extended contact to rest upon a desk or table, the calendar is very stable and not easily overturned.

If at any time it be desired to fold the calendar for storage it is merely necessary to unfold the tabs 12 and 13 and to tip the holder backwardly about its hinge line so that the entire device is substantially flat.

While it is desirable to make the tabs 12 and 13 of double thickness at the central part 11 of the base in order to provide retaining abutments of substantially vertical thickness, it is contemplated that for some purposes it may be sufficicnt to make the tabs of a single-ply of cardboard, as illustrated in Fig. 5, wherein this singleply is indicated at 167. In other respects the device would be like that above described. When these end tabs are of a single-ply, it may be desirable to dispose them in upwardly convergent inclined relation when in use rather than to lay them down flat against the central part 11 of the base, although even these single-ply tabs, when disposed flat against the central part of the base, keep the holder in upright position under most conditions of use and without danger that the holder will fall down or tip. It is further contemplated that, if desired, the slots 20 or 21 may be formed with beveled front and rear edges, so as to position the holder in a plane inclined to the vertical, though the vertical position is normally to be preferred.

While desirable embodiments of the invention have herein been described by way of example, it is to be understood that the invention is broadly inclusive of all other modifications falling within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A desk-type calendar comprising a pad holder and a rigid base, the holder being hinged at its lower edge to the base along a line which is intermediate and parallel with the front and rear edges of the base, the base being of a length exceeding the maximum width of the holder and extending equal distances from the ends of the holder, said base being a single ply of stiff sheet material and said holder being a double ply, one ply being connected to the base by said hinge and constituting the back of the holder and the other ply being connected to the top of one ply by a hinge and extending downwardly over the face of the one ply and constituting the front of the holder, said front ply having a sight opening therethrough through which material placed between the plies may be viewed and said apertured front ply forming a framing therefor, and said base having at its ends hinged tabs corresponding in front to back width to the base, each tab being substantially longer than the length that the base exceeds the holder at that end and having at its inner part an open end slot corresponding in width to the combined front to back thickness of the mount, and a vertical thickness of approximately twice the thickness of the base, which slot provides spaced parallel, vertical walls which slidably embrace the front and back surfaces of the mount adjacent its base at the top side thereof, said hinges joining the proximate ends of the tabs and the base in spaced relation by an amount at least equal to the thickness of the tabs so that in operative position the tabs rest horizontally in contact with the upper surface of the base.

2. A desk-type calendar according to claim 1, wherein the front and rear plies of the mount are of corresponding dimension, and the hinge at the base between the base and the rear ply comprises a width of flexible binding material joining the proximate edges in parallel relation at a spacing at least equalling the combined thickness of the plies.

3. A desk-type calendar according toclaim 1, wherein the tabs are comprised of two plies of stiff sheet material having a composite thickness of approximately twice the thickness of the base.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,821,025 Ohlson Sept. 1, 1930 1,972,024 Lewis Aug. 28, 1934 1,977,009 Nelson Oct. 16, 1934 2,139,822 Harris Dec. 13, 1938 2,386,642 Waggoner Oct. 9, 1945 

